Math Is For Sane People
by abbyevan
Summary: Lilly Truscott can't concentrate on her math test- no, not with the tapping, not with a certain variable, and especially not with Oliver. Oneshot, drabble-ish. T for brief strong language.


There's no proven method to telling whether a person is sane or not.

For example; the man who lives in the alley behind the supermarket could just be humming show tunes to himself because he's lonely. I would be too, living in an alley, with no one else to talk to.

There's the other example: me. I was _totally_ justifiable at the moment, bet no one would be able to tell by looking at me. Nothing at all about the nonchalant way I was finishing my math test suggested I hadn't slept the past three nights, or even hinted at how I'd immediately be prescribed some sort of complicated-sounding pill if I visited my doctor.

Well, nothing but my bleeding cuticles. I'd bitten my nails down to raw skin. It was then, sucking the blood of the tip of my index finger, that I noticed something.

Maybe it was just stress again- when I turned around, everyone's heads were still bent over their papers. But as I hesitantly looked back to my test, I felt again the tickling sensation of someone watching me.

Whipping my head around quickly, I could still see nobody looking. There was only Oliver, sitting in the seat behind me, staring intently at his exam and tapping his foot every ten seconds or so. I looked forward again, wrinkling my nose.

_Tap._

"Quit that!" I hissed, and the noise stopped. Letting out a breath in relief, I bent over the final again. _Solve for x._

What the hell? What's the point of solving for a letter nobody ever uses? I understood n, or b, or even g, but x? Stupid math- x is an overrated variable.

I bit my thumbnail, the only nail that still retained any form of length. Remedying that with a quick snap of my teeth, I pondered if I'd pass math with my solid B+ average and a failed final. There was no way in hell I'd be able to pass this- not with my lack of sleep and the tapping-

Oh, the tapping; Oliver was tapping again.

I turned around to give my best friend a dirty look, but it wasn't him who was tapping his foot. Okay, so I _was_ insane. I tried ignoring the sound, but it was _there:_ a horrible interruption into my thoughts. I was already dysfunctional, and now this _noise_.

I hated x with a passion, no doubt about it- I scribbled angrily in the top corner of my test so I wouldn't kill anyone with the pen in my hand, and bit my thumbnail more fiercely.

Who could I blame for this insanity? Not myself, of course- I was the victim.

Not my parents, not Miley… Not even Ms. Stevens, my math teacher could be blamed for this.

No, _this_ was Oliver's fault.

I peered over my shoulder at him, and my eyes widened as I saw him looking at his paper with a smirk on his face. What could he possibly have to smirk about? This was our math final!

It was getting worse- thoughts collided against each other in my brain, smashing against the walls of my skull in symphony with the tapping feet outside in my math classroom.

Wait- _feet?_ More than one person was tapping? I looked around, but only heard the sound. I couldn't find the source. Frustrated, I turned back, but the cacophony only got worse.

So much tapping, so many thoughts, so little sleep…

And then there was that little black "x" sitting there smugly on my paper. It was taunting me! Staring at me! That cheeky little letter! I blotted it out with my pen so hard that the paper ripped. Oh well- screw the test anyway.

"Hey- Lilly!"

I whipped around. That was Oliver's voice, I was sure. I _knew _his voice- I'd heard it so many times before. But Oliver wasn't looking at me.

No, only _x_- what the _fuck?_ There was another equation with x?

I made a small outraged noise. I'd sue the school! This was madness. No, worse- it was _driving_ me mad!

Someone laughed behind me- Oliver's voice again. But he wasn't looking up. Was I truly insane?

Oh my God, there was more tapping. I clapped my hands over my ears, desperately looking up at the clock that sat over Ms. Stevens's desk. The big hand was on the 2, the small hand was on the 6.

And their even smaller brother wasn't even moving. I swear, when I looked back, it was in the exact same spot. Time had stopped, but the tapping was _endless_.

It invaded my brain and every other thought was cast from my head. _Tap._ And x was absolutely everywhere. _Tap._ Oliver's voice was chuckling softly. _Tap, tap._ Was someone counting backwards? _Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap…_

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1…"

"_I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"_

I sprang from my chair, throwing my test away from me, but the tapping didn't stop. Only Ms. Stevens reacted to my outburst.

"Miss Truscott! Sit _down_, you're disrupting the test!"

"I'm disrupting the test? _I'm_ disrupting it? That goddamn tapping is disrupting the test! I can't concentrate! Especially not with _x_, and not with my fingers bleeding, and not with Oliver!"

Now the tapping stopped. It was dead quiet in the room. I realized what I'd just said, and clapped my hands over my mouth. Oh, I was so most _definitely_ insane- and dead.

But there was Oliver's sweet little laugh, and I was instantly angry. Ms. Stevens was too shocked to say anything, so I was free to keep yelling. Whirling around, I barely registered that the entire class was staring at me before my eyes locked onto Oliver.

He was the only person in the classroom not looking at me, and his shoulders were shaking. He was looking down at his desk determinedly.

"_Oliver!_ Damn it, look at me, Oken! This is all your _fault!_ I haven't got any sleep the past three nights because I keep _thinking _of you! I can't concentrate because I keep seeing your face! And that stupid tapping! Do you have any _clue_ how insane I'm going?"

Oliver looked up at me, and he was grinning. I didn't even have time to hear him say "yes," before he'd stood up and kissed me on the mouth.

The class broke into applause, and Oliver released me. Dazed, I fell against my desk.

"I- wha-"

"You know, I think I've driven you insane already?" And with that, Oliver sat down nonchalantly to finish his test.

In spite of my passionate hate for a certain variable, I passed the test- though I think I'm still certifiably insane.

But that's okay- turns out, Oliver's pretty crazy for me too.

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**Heh- I wrote this story, coincidentally, in the time I had left after finishing a math test. Review!**


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